Snowden's dad wary of plea deal with U.S. government

WASHINGTON, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Edward Snowden's father said Sunday he was dubious of his son making a deal with the U.S. government that would allow his son to return home.

Lon Snowden said on ABC's "This Week" he would only advise his son to return to the United States from Russia if he was confident her would get a fair trial on espionage charges.

"As a father I want my son to come home if I believe that the justice system ... is going to be applied correctly," said Snowden, who was preparing to travel in the near future to Moscow, where his son was recently granted temporary asylum.'

"I'm not open to it, and that's what I'll share with my son in terms of a plea deal," Snowden said.

Edward Snowden is accused of leaking a large volume of sensitive information about the National Security Agency and its so-called metadata collection programs to a British newspaper.

Snowden's father said he considered his son to be a whistle-blower who could not turn to the Obama administration or to Congress, where many senior lawmakers have branded him a traitor.

"These were the committees that knew for seven years what was going on and refused to disclose it to the American people," Snowden said. "If the American knew what was going on, they would be stunned."